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Space Program: Gingrich Come Up with Ideas, while the Romney &; Santorum come with Rhetoric

Leonard David, who is a columnist over at space.com post this video along with a column he wrote about Virgins Galactic’s bid to become the first commercial space liner service. What the ship does is it allows people to travel to the edge of space, experience a few minutes of weightlessness, and view the darkness of space and the curvature of Earth, all before gliding back to ground.

The technology is still in assessment phase, but after watching the video, it became evident that if they pull it off, it is proof that that the free market really can handle space flight. There is no reason to consider that this will not work.

In all of human history there has been about 525 people in space, Virgins Galactic now have 477 people signed up to go, at $200,000 each, with more signing up all the time. Virgins Galactic has about $60 million worth of deposits in the bank, which represents about $100 million worth of business.This is all proof that getting the free market more involved in space is not such a bad idea. Man has been going to space for a while now, but we are just now going to be able to allow private citizen to purchase a ride.

Gingrich has tapped into something important here. The country is insolvent, but at the same time staying the leading nation on space science and space travel in essential, not just for my inner geek, but also for the generation of children to come.The science is vital to so many people, and going to the moon at one time meant the United States was bar none number one.

It started with President Eisenhower, who was skeptical about human spaceflight, but pursued advanced commercial and military applications of satellite technology.My guess is this helped the country in many ways.

Once again, Romney hits some of the right notes, but shows lack of understanding of how to do what he is talking about in a conservative way; he talks the talk, but where are the ideas. We have seen enough talk for a lifetime; it is time to see some action.Out of the candidates remaining in the Republican race, Gingrich clearly has a better governing record.Right now, this is what the country needs.

Rick Santorum even has his opinion on the space program, or more so, his opinion on Gingrich’s plan on building a moon colony.

The truth of the matter is that the billion spent on a moon base would be money well spent, and even though I agree with the idea we need to conserve money, certain things are too important not to do.

I wonder after reading Santorum’s scrutiny on the idea of a moon colony, questions remain on how he would govern.

Was this nothing more than a chance to take a shot at a rival?

Does Santorum plan to cut the NASA budget to zero, or does he have specific ideas on how to collaborate with private entities to achieve future goals.

Gingrich is purposing “10 percent of NASA’s budget, which is currently $17.8 billion, for prizes for an array of competitions.”If Santorum is so fervently about being the candidate that sets ” priorities in order and focus on the things that matter most for American households” which are “creating jobs, economic growth, protecting the family, and ensuring a prosperous and free future for our most precious assets, our children” then why didn’t he suggest while at the Florida debate that NASA was just going to have to wait until something was worked out with private entities.

Sometimes pandering is not just, what you say, it is what you do not say. If Gingrich was pandering, then the same thing could be said about Santorum.

The United States needs some form of a space program, and we need to control spending and to decrease the national debt. Gingrich is the only one coming up with suggestions. The Moon Colony very well could be funded by allowing the private market to use the facility for research or maybe a limited amount of resource gathering.

Ideas matter, and until we see some from the other candidates that are seeking the nomination, come up with ideas, I would have to say Gingrich is still the only choice that makes any sense.

Some of Gingrich’s ideas are ostentatious, but it is going to take something grand to vanquish President Obama, but also to reestablish the nations promise.We do not have to be a nation that has little, if any space program, we just have to find a way to do with little, if no government involvement.